


If Ink Could Paint Our Happily Ever After

by XiroPaine



Series: Bandori Rarepair Week 2k19: Winter Edition [2]
Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Light Angst, Multi, Other, Pre-OT3, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22070863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XiroPaine/pseuds/XiroPaine
Summary: Himari and Tomoe were certain they were meant to be soulmates, if their tattoos were any obvious indication as any. But when they find new flowers bloom on their inked skin, they struggle to accept that the comfort they have shared may not have been that of soulmates after all.Meanwhile, Kaoru marvels over the art her skin has manifested on her arm. Not realizing it at the time she met her beloved, Kaoru wonders what sort of soulmate her heart was bound to by the strings of fate.Bandori Rarepair WeekDay 5 - Soulmates
Relationships: Seta Kaoru/Udagawa Tomoe/Uehara Himari
Series: Bandori Rarepair Week 2k19: Winter Edition [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1574542
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39
Collections: Bandori Rarepair Week (2019-present)





	If Ink Could Paint Our Happily Ever After

**Author's Note:**

> This is just barely acceptable for rarepair week since this is pre-ot3 dating timeline and focuses way more TomoHima angst more than Kaoru trying her best to use her one single gay braincell to find her soulmate (plot twist/spoiler alert: she has two and she loves them both dearly). But it’s fine cause it’s super late anyways, right? I don’t know why I had so much trouble finishing this, but now it is finally done! No beta, we die like warriors, as always. As always, I’ll edit if I find things, or feel free to make comments below.

Himari curled into a ball on her bed, still in her school uniform. She didn't want to have to change out of her long-sleeve shirt, because then she would be forced to look at her arm. At her soulmate tattoo. The one she’s had for years, but for some mysterious reason, those leafy vines that curled around her left arm decided to bloom new flowers today. 

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She already had a soulmate. Tomoe was her soulmate! Really, they were so lucky to have found each other so early in life. Being six year olds with correlating tattoos was a bragging right, as far as she knew. But had they been wrong this whole time? Surely it was impossible. They both noticed their tattoos come into existence after that day they met at the park. They had to be soulmates, they felt like soulmates! And yet the inked flowers that decorated her skin now told her otherwise.

If she wasn’t in the middle of having an existential breakdown, Himari would have thought the flowers were beautiful. The tattoo felt more complete than it did before. She would have probably even gone right to Ran to show her, maybe ask her if the type of flowers meant anything special. But right now, she couldn’t even bear to look at herself. Himari didn’t know what to think, so instead she cried, tugging the sleeve to her uniform shirt down even further so she wouldn’t have to look at the tattoo’d sleeve taunting her.

* * *

“Slow down, Himari, jeez!” Tomoe begged as she was being pulled by the arm down one of the hallways of Haneoka. “Where are we even going!?”

“They only sell three loaves of yakisoba bread a day, and if we don’t hurry, there very well may be a bloodbath on our hands.”

“Did you lose another bet to Moca?” Tomoe sighed.

“Tomoe! It’s a matter of life and death and we—”

_Crash!_

Kaoru groaned as she slowly recovered her senses. She didn’t recall being on the floor before, or her butt being extremely sore.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Himari whined, tears already forming in the corner of her eyes. She knew herself to be quite a bit of a klutz, and for that she was already guilty. But that sinking feeling became worse when she realized exactly who she had knocked over. Kaoru Seta. Prince of Haneoka. Himari’s seen the drama show posters hung up around school, but those posters truly didn’t do Kaoru’s true beauty any justice. Everything seemed to fall straight out of a manga.

“Jeez, Himari, be a little more careful,” Tomoe chastised, glancing over to her fallen schoolmate. “Sorry about her, let me help you up. You good?”

“Nothing appears to be wounded but some pride,” Kaoru answered as she accepted Tomoe’s hand. Tomoe couldn’t help but chuckle at the remark.

“Eh, nothing you can’t walk off,” Tomoe replied easily, patting Kaoru’s shoulder. “Really, we’re sorry about quite literally barging into your day like that.”

“So sorry…” Himari managed to squeak out, scared she might burst into actual tears if she said anything else.

“Think nothing of it,” Kaoru waved off, fully recovered and back to her usual princely self. “If anything, I must thank the universe for bestowing me the chance of meeting such a graceful couple.”

“Right…” Tomoe drew out, not wanting to question the second-year’s strange mannerisms. “Anyways! Himari, don’t we have a mission to fulfill?”

That seemed to snap Himari out of her daze. “Yes! The yakisoba bread! Tomoe we have to hurry!”

And with that, Tomoe found herself being yanked down the hall once more—almost comically even, much to Kaoru’s amusement.

* * *

“Tomoe, are you okay? You’re practically sweating through your uniform!” Tsugu asked concerned. They had just finished running through their set for an upcoming gig and Tomoe sat behind the drum set ready to pass out at any second.

“Huh? No I’m fine!” Tomoe poorly lied. She guzzled down the rest of her water bottle, desperately hoping it would give her some sort of relief.

“You never keep your sleeves rolled down when you drum,” Ran observed.

“I’m just a little chilly,” Tomoe tried again, fooling nobody.

“You always complain about the heat,” Ran deadpanned, “Even in the middle of winter.”

Tomoe fiddled with the right cuff of her uniform shirt, looking at the wall opposite of Himari and avoiding all eye contact with her band—but very specifically that of her own girlfriend. She didn’t want the bassist to see her soulmate tattoo, but it was so hard to hide considering how it wrapped around her forearm. Most days she loved showing it off, but ever since an unexpected surprise that caused her soulmate tattoo to become even more elaborate, she’s been afraid of wearing anything but long-sleeves in public. Yes, even if it meant suffering from the incoming summer heat. She feared the moment they would have to start wearing short-sleeved uniforms.

“Himari~, get your wife to stop being stubborn,” Moca complained.

“We’re not married!”

“Not with that attitude~,” Moca singsonged, “You’re gonna ruin poor ol’ Moca’s wedding plans. Everything’s already planned out! We’re even getting Tsugu ordained!”

That didn’t fail to get a rise out of Ran, which meant Tsugu had to play peacekeeper between the two. In the midst of their squabbling, Tomoe dared to glance at her girlfriend. She knew she had been avoiding Himari for at least a week, not that she’s been counting the days or anything. She was sure Himari had noticed by now. Even their usual synchronization when playing together felt off. The worst part of it all was that she knew Himari was trying to avoid her too.

* * *

How fleeting of a predicament Kaoru found herself in. To have laid eyes on her soulmate but to have never known. It wasn’t until she returned home one day that she noticed the tattoo coloring her arm. Kaoru spent the following hours marveling over the intricate patterns of thorny vines, broad leaves, and colorful roses. Vibrant hues of red, pink, and purple flowered her otherwise pale skin. Kaoru could not stop fawning over the beauty of it. If only she knew who had caused her heart to bloom so passionately.

Tracing over the ink over and over, Kaoru tried to recall everyone she had a significant encounter with for the last two weeks. It was tough, considering the amount of people she drew in on a daily basis. If she was being quite honest with herself, every encounter held its own magic. But she had to look deeper, think harder. Open her mind’s eye and paint a mental picture of what her soulmate was meant to be. She knew the answers were in the ink, but for the life of her, Kaoru could not pinpoint it to any single person.

* * *

This was it. The first day of summer uniforms. The day of reckoning. The day Tomoe couldn’t avoid Himari any longer. There was absolutely no way she could hide her tattoo anymore. She could try to just keep her arm firmly planted to her side all day, maybe try to hide the flowers lining her forearm. But hell, she was right-handed, how would she take notes like that?

She texted the Afterglow group chat that she had to help Ako with some last minute homework and couldn’t walk to school with them today. It was a lousy excuse, and even if they saw right through Tomoe’s bluff, nobody called her out on it.

It wasn’t until Tomoe got to the front courtyard that she saw Himari and the others huddled around each other. Tomoe had half a mind to just turn the other way and find somewhere else to lay low until homeroom, but Tsugu caught her glance. She couldn’t avoid them now that they’ve seen her.

As Tomoe awkwardly walked up to their friend circle, she noticed Himari instinctively bring her right hand up to her tricep, as if...also covering her soulmate tattoo.

“G’morning guys, sorry about earlier,” Tomoe apologized meekly.

“It’s fine Tomoe!” Tsugu chirped, however the tension around the whole group was evident.

“So Tomoe, Himari has a surprise for you!” Moca teased, nudging Himari by the arm. Himari could only silently plead with her eyes to drop the subject.

“Moca, maybe it’s not our place to—” Tsugu began.

“They’ve been avoiding each other for almost two weeks!” Moca cried out, “Moca loves you both, but please! You’re tearing this family apart, your children are starving!”

“Moca, I told you we could have stopped by the convenience store on our way here!” Ran cut in.

“Not when we have a marriage in jeopardy! Hii-chan and Tomo-chin just need—”

“Himari-chan!” Tsugu called out as the bassist fled from the pack suddenly. Ran punched Moca in the arm rather hard, grumbling that she went to far again, but Tomoe could only stand in shock and panic. She happened to catch a quick glimpse when Himari turned a cold shoulder to the drummer and ran off in haste—a glimpse of vibrantly colored petals that she had become painfully familiar with. Swallowing nervously, Tomoe looked down at her own soulmate tattoo before something clicked in her mind.

“Hi-Himari! Wait up!” 

One thing about Himari taking up tennis was that she made for a decent runner. Even as kids, Tomoe was the only one that could actually catch Himari when they played tag in the park. But catching up to Himari while trying to weave through crowded school hallways was an entirely different story. 

Truth be told, Tomoe didn’t know what was going on in the slightest. Never had they heard stories of soulmate tattoos changing or becoming more elaborate as the years passed. But Moca was right, they needed to stop avoiding each other. They always dealt with issues together, so how was this any different? They just had to talk to each other. Communicate. Just because they were soulmates, didn’t mean they were telepathically linked, though it did seem that way sometimes. Tomoe just needed to catch up and talk it out with Himari, like they should have weeks before.

Himari wasn’t usually the type to run away from her problems, but she didn’t even know where to start in tackling this one. It was the kind of problem that tugged at her heartstrings and played with her already delicate emotions. She knew the way she was handling things—quite literally running from Tomoe—was the wrong way to go about things, but she panicked. Moca’s teasing wasn’t any better, though she knew deep inside that Moca was just trying to lighten up the situation, make it easier for her and Tomoe to actually talk to each other. 

Not having Tomoe to rely on, to help her through problems, was extremely stressful. In the past two weeks, she’s come to realize just how much she leaned on Tomoe. Which honestly wasn’t too bad, since Tomoe never seemed to be bothered about helping unpack issues. But when Tomoe was the root of the problem, it was hard to find someone to help her sort through her grievances. Of course, Himari had half a mind to reach out to Tsugu, but she didn’t want to get the rest of Afterglow involved in an already sticky situation. She just couldn’t let herself cause more tension in the band than was already there between just her and Tomoe.

Himari was too sucked into her own thoughts that she wasn’t even aware of where she was going, and upon swiftly turning a corner, bumped straight into an unsuspecting body and causing them both to tumble straight to the ground. Himari groaned in pain as she regained her senses.

“So it seems fate has destined us to meet once more,” a familiar voice said. Himari looked over and was certain she had caught a case of déjà vu, with Kaoru on her butt but this time sporting a very similar tattoo that had been haunting her for the last two weeks. Kaoru chuckled softly at the turn of events, but upon seeing Himari’s tear streaked face, immediately turned serious. 

“Oh, little kitten. Do not fret,” Kaoru said as she shuffled over and took Himari gently in her arms. “It is not as bad as it seems, I am unhurt like the last time.”

It was only when Kaoru began rubbing Himari’s back in hopes of comforting her that she noticed the tattoo that peaked from under her shirt sleeve. Kaoru only hummed to herself, not wanting to worsen the situation.

Himari wasn’t entirely sure why she broke down, but instinctively allowed herself to be comforted by a warm embrace. Everything felt like it was happening so fast and she couldn’t keep up with everything going on. If Kaoru was… then what about…

“Himari!” Tomoe quickly turned the corner, and upon finding Kaoru and Himari befallen, skidded to a stop, lest she run over the both of them. Many emotions painted the drummers face, but even with Himari sobbing into Kaoru’s chest, Tomoe could only zone in on Kaoru’s tattoo’d arm. 

Kaoru looked up at Tomoe with a face full of empathy. When Tomoe nervously rubbed her own arm, Kaoru noticed and wordlessly they knew. The silent nod of agreement told them all that they needed to know.

“So that’s how it is,” Kaoru said, mostly to herself, but Tomoe smiled in response regardless. Kaoru understood now why she had felt so torn between things. Why every time she tried to envision her soulmate, was met with a duality that she could not comprehend. To have two soulmates… oh, what a fate so luckily bestowed.


End file.
